“We aren’t supposed to interfere!” Chloe replied, breathing deeply. She was very proud of herself for not losing her cool.

“The mom was young and her nest wasn’t made the right way, she only had two eggs and one was falling down…what was I supposed to do?” he asked, raising his voice slightly.

“You should have kept doing YOUR job, the one you were supposed to do today!” she replied, getting closer and impatient this time. He was trying to justify himself by using all more reasons to be punished. 

“Oh right, of course, I should have let that poor creature die, right? Because you would have totally done that. MISS I DO WHAT I’M ORDERED TO!” his sassiness was now to a ridiculous level. He was literally accusing her of doing her job the proper way. What was this nonsense? He was wrong and now he was trying to make her think otherwise.

She was about to shout back and say that yes she would have but… Fine! She would have saved the egg, no one wanted to see a baby die like that, it was atrocious, especially since liriodendron trees weren’t exactly small ones. She breathed deeply and looked down trying to calm her heart rate once again. She brought a hand to the bridge of her nose and pressed lightly with her fingers to try and stop the headache that was slowly coming.

They weren’t supposed to interfere with nature, and surely many eggs were destined every day to fall and sadly crash, but how could they simply walk past it if they were present at the exact moment some innocent creature was in danger? Chloe perfectly knew that they could help nature to a certain extent, what was the difference between pollinating manually and saving an egg? The only difference was the orders they were given. Interfering with the pollination of liriodendrons was beneficial for many species and to keep the balance, on the other hand saving single lives went against natural selection. 

“The rain is going to be heavy, that nest wasn’t going to hold, I was afraid both of the eggs would have rolled down. The mom bird looked so stressed trying to add leaves…but the structure wasn’t right. Chloe, you know you would have done the same,” he said, finally his voice was calmer, and his attitude had cooled down, he had gotten slightly closer and was trying to find understanding in her. His expression was softer and worried, and when their eyes met she felt slightly guilty having scolded him.

He was indeed good with words. Stupid Oliver.

He was right, damn him. Well, she wouldn’t have done it by herself, only because she wasn’t well prepared on building things, but she would have tried to help, to the extent that maybe she would have waited there till the storm stopped. She sighed, “You should have come to find me,” she whispered. Her demeanour had finally started changing too, she was letting go of the tension in her shoulders and relaxing her expression.

“I couldn’t… plus I didn’t want to involve you in this,” he said. He then looked up at the sky and around, sighing as he placed his hands on his hips, it was his thinking pose. “Now I’ll build us a little shelter for the night, I guess we won’t be flying anywhere… I even doubt I’ll be able to finish it before it rains.” He looked slightly bothered compared to his usual brazen self. Such a foolish fairy he was. Now he was worried? He should have worried before, while he was being reckless.

“Yeah, do as you please… I will look for the leaves for the roof…” she said, turning around and flying away, leaving him there unable to reply to her. She didn’t even want to look him in the eyes. She was going to face punishment for sure. She, who had never been scolded before, hated the sole thought of it. Chloe kept flying and muttering something under her breath, hating him more and more with each leaf she picked up from the ground. It was a huge waste of time, time she could have spent anticipating her return home, to her bathtub and her soft bed. But no, now she was going to freaking sleep in a small shelter, and on top of that… with Oliver.

The moment she got back she saw he had already built most of the little hut, it was weird that it took her so much time just to find the right leaves, but she wasn’t used to it. The small wooden shelter was even nicer than she had thought because he made sure to even up the branch surface and then built a circular tiny house. “Oh you’re back,” he said, glancing at her, he even smiled, “Just in time, those will be just perfect,” he then added pointing at the leaves she had in her arms.

Chloe was taken aback for a second, he rarely earnestly smiled at her, it was always just smirks and mischievous smiles. She shook the thoughts away,  got closer and placed the leaves on the branch next to the little building. Then she stood there and watched as Oliver placed them on the roofing made of small sticks and mud. They were needed to protect the inside from the rain that was soon coming, but probably it wasn’t going to be enough to protect them from the wind too. It was inevitable to have many empty spaces between the sticks, especially when done in such a rush and with the rain coming soon.

“Wait here and make sure no leaf falls down, will you? I’ll be right back.” That said the male fairy flew away very quickly, leaving her to guard the hut. Luckily no gushes of wind seemed to be coming. Since Chloe knew nothing about building houses she found herself looking around it, admiring all those small twigs perfectly weaving one another. The hut was nestled perfectly in a curve of one of the large branches of the tree, and perfectly adhering to the main trunk. Probably one of the fresh tree twigs was even braided with the others the fairy had found lying around. He was good, he was indeed, and that place was going to keep them not only safe but also warm. She sighed and rolled her eyes, she was annoyed by how good it looked. Because she wasn’t even going to be able to complain that, after wasting their time, he wasn’t able to provide a solution.

Fine, she disliked the guy, but apart from being a narcissistic fool, always running after the ladies, he was a decent warrior and he had the skills needed to help people even in times of peace. She bent forward slightly and peeked inside the little house and saw it was spacious enough for them to lie down. But of course, they were going to be very close, especially if they wanted to lie on the simple grass mat Oliver had placed on the floor. 

“Nice view!” she heard and immediately turned around, awkwardly covering her behind in an impulse. Was he talking about her butt? What an idiot! That sentence even gave her slightly flushed cheeks and she hated it because she saw him smirking immediately as he got closer. “I was talking about the inside of the hut, what were you thinking?” He then added, winking at her. Stupid, idiot… gah. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. He was a decent warrior but a terrible person. It was no use even replying to such a provocation and giving him the satisfaction of knowing he got to her.

Oliver had found some very strong grass and after obtaining a few strings from it, he used them to tie up the leaves to the roof and make sure all was in place. The exact moment he finished placing it all, they felt the first drop of water. Of course, Chloe was the one that was hit by it, right on her head, and just one was able to wet half of her hair. She froze the moment she felt almost as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over her head. Just as she predicted the raindrops were going to be big, the electricity of the air and the heaviness of the clouds didn’t lie.

Oliver bit his lips trying to stop a smile and gestured for her to enter the hut. She grunted and shook away some water before gathering her bag and bending to enter the hut. He quickly avoided some more raindrops and got inside too.

They sat inside the little hut making sure to tie the leaves used as a door so that, if wind was to come, they weren’t going to fly away. Oliver had quickly gone out to gather the very few remaining leaves that Chloe had brought in earlier and placed them inside, on the wall to the side, the one that was more exposed to the open air. Luckily having built the hut directly to the main trunk gave them a larger surface that was protected from wind and water. 

The small room got immediately darker, to the point they could barely see one another, despite it being still hours before sunset. Chloe sighed. She took her bag and took out the bread and the water. Annoyed because now they had to share it and it wasn’t enough for sure. Then she grabbed her towel. Luckily she brought it, at least she could pat her hair dry and then use it as a pillow. 

Oliver smiled and took his bag. He usually only wore a belt bag, too small for useful things, often just his small knife and some seeds, yet he surprised her. He took out a small satchel with two dark rocks. But those weren’t rocks, it was actually concentrated and crystallized fruit juice. It was full of flavour and sugar, and it was going to help them regain some energy. One was definitely enough for a fairy, especially because the job wasn’t too heavy, well it wasn’t supposed to be at least. Now that Oliver had to build a hut he definitely needed more. But still, why would he bring two?

Chloe looked at him with confusion in her eyes and he smiled “I brought one for you too, just in case…you woke up late and forgot to bring something,” he said, surprising her even more, but then he had to end with that. He was doing so well, seeming nice and thoughtful, but he obviously had to provoke her somehow. She sighed and rolled her eyes, again. Yet she reached out and snatched one of the crystals from his hand, swapping it with the bread slice she brought. She wasn’t going to let her pride leave her starving all night. She also felt ashamed she only had bread with her, but she really thought it was going to be enough, plus the area had berries and she had figured one berry could have helped. Oliver chuckled softly, shaking his head but didn’t say anything more.

They ate in silence, not even looking at each other, and then,  the only thing they could have done was lay down and wait for the rainstorm to pass.

Chloe adjusted her towel and bag under her head and tried to lie on the mat, but it was like being directly on the wood. It was so uncomfortable. She glanced to her side and saw Oliver lying there, his head directly to the wood, his arms crossed to try and occupy as little space as possible. She grunted and sighed in frustration before grabbing the towel from under her and pushing it towards Oliver’s head. He was surprised at first and turned around with a raised eyebrow then he smiled and grabbed the towel from her hand to adjust himself. Their fingers brushed together and it gave her chills. Maybe it was just because his hand was cold.

She tried to adjust her position but she could only sleep on her side and when she tried to, she felt the leather from her top bending and piercing her like a dagger.

She sat up frustrated, ready to stay up all night, but then she frowned profoundly and said “If you dare look at me weirdly or try something I will genuinely cut off your hands!” She announced as she reached to finally unbutton the corset. The clasps were on the front and as soon as she undid them she felt relieved. It was fine for training and everyday wearing, but after many hours her breasts really needed to feel free, and her ribs to be able to adjust to the hut floor. Chloe placed the corset neatly on a side and breathed a few times before lying back down next to Oliver.

He glanced at her but didn’t look much. She was obviously feeling very self-conscious instead, that chemise was fairly large and one wrong move and probably one of her breasts was going to slip out. She had to be very still and just hope he was going to sleep soon.

She had been lying there, rigid as a stick, almost not even breathing, and the other noticed it. Oliver rolled to a side and chuckled, “Chloe relax, your muscles will be sore tomorrow if you keep this tension,” he said and poked her leg with his knee, ever so slightly. Despite her wanting to take off her stiff top to lie on a side, she ended up flat on her back, almost like a statue, and the more she thought about how ridiculous she must have looked, the more she felt frustrated and wanted to throw herself out of the hut and down to the ground. Letting Mother Nature take her.

“Mind your business,” she hissed between gritted teeth, making him chuckle even more than before.

He leaned closer to her face, teasing her, just like he was used to doing almost every day “What?” he almost whispered, probably thinking he was being seductive, “are you afraid I’d do something to you?” he added with a hoarse voice. Seeing that she refused to reply to him, he pushed further and dared to reach out to touch her abdomen, right under her left breast. He moved his hand upward ever so slightly under her chemise and froze before retracting his hand completely and sitting up as far as he could.

She was too shocked to move at first but a part of her broke the moment he moved away that quickly. She looked down and sighed “Disgusting, right?”

She whispered, feeling her eyes become watery.